JYVÄSKYLÄ STUDIES IN EDUCATION, PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIAL RESEARCH 449 Jouni Tilli The Continuation War as a Metanoic Moment A Burkean Reading of Lutheran Hierocratic Rhetoric JYVÄSKYLÄ STUDIES IN EDUCATION, PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIAL RESEARCH 449 Jouni Tilli The Continuation War as a Metanoic Moment A Burkean Reading of Lutheran Hierocratic Rhetoric Esitetään Jyväskylän yliopiston yhteiskuntatieteellisen tiedekunnan suostumuksella julkisesti tarkastettavaksi yliopiston päärakennuksen salissa C5 lokakuun 5. päivänä 2012 kello 12. Academic dissertation to be publicly discussed, by permission of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Jyväskylä, in University Main Building, hall C5, on October 5, 2012 at 12 o'clock noon. UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ JYVÄSKYLÄ 2012 The Continuation War as a Metanoic Moment A Burkean Reading of Lutheran Hierocratic Rhetoric JYVÄSKYLÄ STUDIES IN EDUCATION, PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIAL RESEARCH 449 Jouni Tilli The Continuation War as a Metanoic Moment A Burkean Reading of Lutheran Hierocratic Rhetoric UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ JYVÄSKYLÄ 2012 Editors Jussi Kotkavirta Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of Jyväskylä Pekka Olsbo, Harri Hirvi Publishing Unit, University Library of Jyväskylä URN:ISBN:978-951-39-4864-1 ISBN 978-951-39-4864-1 (PDF) ISBN 978-951-39-4863-4 (nid.) ISSN 0075-4625 Copyright © 2012 , by University of Jyväskylä Jyväskylä University Printing House, Jyväskylä 2012 ABSTRACT Tilli, Jouni The Continuation War as a Metanoic Moment. A Burkean Reading of Lutheran Hierocratic Rhetoric Jyväskylä, University of Jyväskylä, 2012, 200 p. (Jyväskylä Studies in Education, Psychology and Social Research ISSN 0075-4625; 449) ISBN 978-951-39-4863-4 (nid.) ISBN 978-951-39-4864-1 (PDF) Summary Diss. The study explores an aspect of the Continuation War 1941–1944 that has received surprisingly little attention, although the war in general is one of the most debated topics in the history of Finland. Accordingly, the research tackles the rhetorical problem of how Lutheran priests applied religious and biblical typologies in order to support the war effort of the Finnish state. My interpretation of priestly power consists of two steps. Firstly, the theological concept of metanoia is used to frame an explanation of how clergy purported to change minds in order to prepare the audience for action. Secondly, Kenneth Burke’s theory of symbolic action is applied in rhetorical analysis of clerical texts. As the research shows, the Continuation War was “emplotted” using an application of the biblical drama. More specifically, the clergy relied on six typoi: apocalypse, holy war & crusade, election & mission, jeremiad, the war within, obedience & mortification. Hence the substantial change from eschatological expectations, holy war and crusading to lamentations of individual and collective sinfulness could be carried out using a rhetorical structure that was familiar to all Finns. And most importantly, without questioning the authority of the church or the state, whilst the military-political situation changed dramatically. The primary material consists of texts produced by bishops, chaplains and other priests. These texts include sermons, speeches, devotionals and newspaper articles. The method is textual analysis, manifested in the application of a reading strategy that examines the usage of biblical and religious imagery that were used in interpreting the Finnish situation. Keywords: The Continuation War, Kenneth Burke, symbolic action, rhetoric, metanoia, clergy Author’s address Jouni Tilli Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy / political science P. O. Box 35, FI-40014 University of Jyväskylä Supervisor Professor Mika Ojakangas Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy / political science P. O. Box 35, FI-40014 University of Jyväskylä Reviewers Professor Clarke Rountree Department of Communication Arts The University of Alabama 342 Morton Hall University of Alabama in Huntsville Huntsville, AL 35899 The United States University Lecturer Mika Luoma-aho PhD, Department of Social Sciences P.O. Box 122, 96101 Rovaniemi University of Lapland Opponent Professor Clarke Rountree ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost I wish to thank my supervisor Professor Mika Ojakangas for his support and insightful feedback on the manuscript. In addition, I want to thank Docent Tuija Parvikko whose expertise was invaluable especially at the early stages of the research. From the Department of Social Sciences I wish to thank my numerous colleagues with whom I have discussed the theme of my research as well as other academic and not-so-academic topics during the last 4 and a half years. In particular, I am grateful to Mikko Jakonen for his general perceptiveness and erudition and to my roommate Onni Pekonen for his companionship in the everyday struggle of a PhD student. MA Eleanor Underwood has proofread my English, not only the dissertation manuscript but also the several article manuscripts I have sent her. She has copyedited the texts and provided many useful comments in relation to both content and its linguistic expression, for which I am grateful. PhD Anna Björk has kindly assisted me with the German language. In addition, I am thankful for Professor Clarke Rountree, PhD Mika Luoma-aho and PhD Edward C. Appel for their astute observations and suggestions. I am grateful also to Dean Jaakko Rantamäki of the Reisjärvi parish for our lively discussions and the material and intellectual support he has given me. Also, the staff at the National Archives Service of Finland has been of enormous help with their excellent and swift assistance. For financial support I want to thank the University of Jyväskylä, The Ellen and Artturi Nyyssönen Foundation, The Finnish Cultural Foundation, the Eino Jutikkala Fund at The Finnish Academy of Science and Letters, and the Martti Haavio Fund. In addition, The Academy of Finland Centre of Excellence in Political Thought and Conceptual Change has provided financial assistance in academic travelling. Finally, I owe the warmest thanks to my wife Milla whose unwavering support I have been able to count on in those numerous times when writing this manuscript (and academic life in general) has caused anxiety. Thank you Milla, your love has been pivotal. I wish to thank also our daughter Sofia who has taught an impatient man a great deal of patience. To use a Burkean expression, it has been fascinating to observe how a human infant begins to transcend the natural towards the symbolic. I am extremely grateful also to my dear parents who have stood by me more firmly than I could have hoped for. CONTENTS ABSTRACT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 9 1.1 The Continuation War, priests and rhetoric ............................................ 9 1.2 Plan of the study ........................................................................................ 14 2 FALL AND REDEMPTION: LANGUAGE AS SYMBOLIC ACTION ........ 16 2.1 Tools that weld, demons that divide ...................................................... 16 2.2 Symbols as entelechial movement........................................................... 18 2.3 Identification, order, and the rhetoric of theology ................................ 19 3 THE DIALECTIC OF DRAMATISM ................................................................ 25 3.1 The dramatistic pentad ............................................................................. 25 3.2 The dialectic of dramatic substance ........................................................ 28 3.3 Dominant topoi, circumference and root terms .................................... 31 3.4 Symbolic action in biblical terms: typological identification .............. 35 4 THE PRIESTLY POLITICS OF METANOIA ................................................... 40 4.1 Guidance towards salvation – priestly power in Christianity ............ 40 4.2 Metanoia – the purpose of priestly power ............................................. 44 4.3 Martin Luther’s political theology, nationalism and Lutheran metanoia ...................................................................................................... 48 4.4 The Lutheran justification of war ............................................................ 52 5 SETTING THE SCENE: VISIONS OF ESCHATOLOGY ............................... 55 5.1 Invocation: the Continuation War as a holy war, a crusade ............... 55 5.2 The Continuation War: Apocalypse now! .............................................. 57 5.2.1 Typos: apocalypse............................................................................. 57 5.2.2 Behold, for something new is being born ..................................... 59 5.3 Legion, for we are many – the enemy identified .................................. 66 5.3.1 “I will put enmity between you” – hostility and devil-terms .... 66 5.3.2 Eternal enemy from the kingdom of the Beast ............................. 68 5.3.3 Chaos and the Asiatic hordes .......................................................... 76 5.4 Katechon and anomos, the temporized essence of the war ................. 81 6 COUNTER-ACT: CRUSADE TO KARELIA ................................................... 85 6.1 Screaming for vengeance: “Deus vult!” ................................................. 85 6.1.1 Typos: holy war & crusade .............................................................. 85 6.1.2 Finland’s or God’s war? ..................................................................